Sk8man

I hear ya. Just be real careful around that creek area with the warm temps tomorrow who knows what might be going ion under the ice in that area for days afterward regardless of the temp that day. That is quite an ice jam out front of there. Good luck if you go. I may myself if I get feeling better anytime soon...there are some big ones in there so persistence may pay off for you...be great if the kids could get some....Les

I can probably guess.....zip....I've tried there a bunch of times thinking the crappies might be in there but have only caught a sunfish or two and one bass and that was in the open water. For some reason the majority of fish don't seem to occupy that area (or at least not when I have fished it over the years I gave up on it). Did you do anything at Onanda yesterday Tim?

I think you can but probably be best to undercoat with a metal primer first

Yeah I can remember back in the early eighties Fran and Deb Barrett shaking their heads in disbelief as I crunched my way from their marina out the Seneca canal out into the lake in my 13 ft Whaler in mid February (snow storm too) and was back in less than an hour with my limit of lakers

WTG Joe! You were living out my current fantasy

I'm not sure on that one but it is similar in shape to these "no name" spoon blanks that Cabela's used to sell with different finishes and folks "doctored up" They came in three sizes I can't locate the other 2 smaller sizes at the moment as they are probably at the bottom of one of my boxes someplace but these are the larger ones from one of my salmon boxes. Someone else may be able to conclusively ID it but this is a possibility.

If you find that they try to turn over in waves put a strip of lead for ballast along the bottom of them (screwed in).

I didn't fish but I went to Onanda and walked out and talked with the guys out there (from Hammondsport). They were in about 200 ft of water and just a couple dink lakers. It was their first time fishing there and I suggested a couple places to try in a bit shallower. The ice boat dudes were out there in force but since they have the whole lake to themselves right now they didn't encroach on the guys fishing looks like you may not have missed too much Tg8

Thanks guys. It helps being old

Nice work Kevin ....I'm especially jealous regarding the crappies we haven't had much luck finding them this winter. WTG Les

That is pretty sick Ray! Doesn't get much better than fresh sea food either....

I have a few dozen of them and the smallest ones are the Quickstrike #11's and they are killer rainbow and laker spoons and one of my favorites. The ones pictured look like 88's with the swirl finish and the #35 ? or #88 (hard to tell in the pkg) hammered brass. They were modeled after the Sutton's by a guy who lived in either Corning or Elmira area and used to sell them in various tackle shops in the Finger Lakes area. He made them in his own shop there and I met him at a friend's tackle shop back in the early eighties. He looked to be in his 50's or 60's back then. I think his name was Bill something. His spoons were stamped out and he had the plain silver color, plain brass and hammered as well as swirl finish in many of the same numbered and sized spoons as the Sutton's (e.g 11, 22, 44, 35, and 88) and I think he mentioned to me that he actually made the model for his stamping from a Sutton spoon shape. They cost $2.00- $2.25 at the time :smile:By the way that is the original packaging with the red band at the top. Some are pictured below: (they originally came with flimsy trebles which were easily crushed by big lakers and browns) From left to right are: Quickstrike 88 in swirl finish #35 in swirl finish #22 in swirl brass, silver swirl, hammered brass #11 (my favorite) in hammered silver and swirled brass

At least Seneca will be fishable a lot sooner than the other surrounding lakes but I wouldn't put the cold weather gear away any time soon That new boat looks terrific by the way

I'll bet you are dreaming of hammering those browns in your new boat ED

I find it interesting that a number of these reports keep saying that the reason that Lake Ontario remains "open" is because it is so deep but Lake Superior is far deeper and the volume is much much greater....my hunch is it is because of currents (i.e. moving subsurface water) in Lake Ontario stemming from the fact that it is hooked to the St Lawrence and Hudson at the eastern section and the Welland Canal etc. to the west.